


Salty Eyes

by pedipalps



Category: Homestuck
Genre: EriSol - Freeform, How Do I Tag, Kind of a songfic?, M/M, eridan seems kinda shady at first but genuinely has good intentions, i dunno, i had a small burst of inspiration, i probably should, kind of sad until the end, no sburb au where humans probably exist but don't get mentioned, plot is based on Salty Eyes by The Matches, sollux and eridan are probably way out of character but who really cares, sollux does have a lisp i'm just too lazy to type it oops, the plot really only fits the song for a good chunk of the beginning and a little bit of the end, the world is probably more like earth c than anything else, they somehow are adults and still live on alternia, uhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 01:09:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8601295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pedipalps/pseuds/pedipalps
Summary: You didn’t really  have a reason to leave. Admittedly, you’d been having a pretty good time with your friends.You honestly hadn't intended to end up crying beneath an overpass, you swear.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I think I like this a lot, but I also feel like I might've tried too hard. 
> 
> shurg
> 
> EDIT: it took me a week after I posted this to remember that trolls are nocturnal but let's forget about that for a little bit

You didn’t _really_ have a reason to leave. Admittedly, you’d been having a pretty good time with your friends. When you’d agreed to go out with them for a night of drinking, you hadn’t actually expected to enjoy yourself. You had thought that you would stay sober and that your friends, who definitely would not do the same, would end up making fun of you for… well, being you. Your eyes, which weren’t the same color, your blood, which was the lowest on the hemospectrum out of most of the people you knew and spent time with(aside from Aradia, and possibly Karkat- nobody really knew what color he was), your double horns, your bifurcated tongue. There would, of course, also be the constant teasing questions about whether or not certain “other attributes” were doubled as well (they were, but it was none of your friends’ business how many bulges you had).

This ended up not being the case, however. You’d had four drinks by the time you’d left (you were carrying your fifth on the way out), and you and your friends had been in good spirits, exchanging lighthearted conversation about topics that had nothing to do with what you had thought they would.

You’d left anyway though, deciding to take some time for yourself, and you’d somehow found yourself beneath an overpass that was a short distance away from the bar your friends were currently populating. Why you’d come here you had no idea, but you’d come here nonetheless, and you figured you might as well find something to busy yourself with until you left, whether the distraction be physical or mental. You leaned against one of the vertical columns for support, and your thoughts began drifting to a place you’d not expected them to go; though, at a later time, you’d think you really should’ve anticipated it. You’d always been kind of a sad drunk, so you shouldn’t have been as surprised as you were when you began reminiscing of quote-unquote “better times”. 

This mostly meant that you started (not for the first time) wishing that things had ended on a better note with your most recent relationship.

Feferi was by far the best relationship you’d had in a long time. You’d cared for her, _loved_ her, more than anyone else you could remember that you’d been with. Apparently, though, you bitterly recalled, she’d not felt nearly the same way, and she’d left you for your best friend. You’d never felt more hurt, and it had taken months before you forgave either one of them- Feferi or Aradia. Now though, you bore no ill will towards the two- aside from, evidently, when you were intoxicated. 

You grimaced to yourself as a song began to play in your head. In the sense that couples had “their song”, it was yours and Feferi’s while you were together. How fitting, then, that it would pop into your mind just as you were thinking about her. You couldn’t help but quietly hum along to the tune, though.

From the distance, breaking the pseudo-silence that had previously been held over the area, you heard a siren. Glancing in the direction from which the sound came, you caught a glimpse of a police car driving by, followed soon by an ambulance. Was someone hurt? Probably. Had they died? There was no way to know, but you found yourself feeling as if whoever the ambulance was for had things better off than you. This was, of course, not true, but what reason did you have to care? If you wanted to die, that was your own business.

Somewhere in the back of your mind, as the song began to reach its chorus (with you still humming along, slightly louder now), you realized that there were tears running down your face. You pulled your phone out of your pocket and glanced down at the screen, disappointed when you saw that none of your friends apparently cared enough about you to call and try to find where you went without any sort of warning. They didn’t care enough about you to even notice that you were gone, you supposed.

Glancing up at the sky, you saw the thin sliver of the moon hanging high in the air above you. You internally cursed yourself, because this no doubt meant that it was late in the night- too late. You knew you were going to have a hard time tomorrow morning. Sighing, you slid down the wall behind you until you landed on the hard, paved ground beneath you.

Without thinking, you began to sing. You didn’t care how loud you were being; it wasn’t as if there was anyone around to hear you. You hated the song. It’d been almost permanently ruined for you when Feferi had ended your relationship. This didn’t stop you though, tears streaming down your face in warm yellow tracks as you belted out the words at the top of your lungs. You probably looked crazy, but you were too drunk to care. The world could go fuck itself, for all you cared- which, admittedly, wasn’t very much. You hated it. You hated the world, you hated your friends, you hated Feferi, and you hated yourself for hating all of it.

As you reached the end of the chorus, you stopped singing, opting instead to break down even further, sobbing as you held your head in your hands. 

Remarkably soon after, though, your head shot back up as you heard a voice from a short distance away. As it would seem, you weren’t as alone as you thought.

“Hey, are you okay? I heard singin’… and cryin’? And it sounded like it came from over here, so I figured I’d check it out.” You could tell from their voice that you didn’t know this person, and their silhouette was not one you recognized.

“Shit, yeah… I just, I’ll go. Sorry.” You quickly stood up and tried to head back in the direction of the bar, but you were stopped by a gentle hand on your arm.

“No, wait,” Their voice wavered slightly on the w sound. “Are you alright? I don’t normally go out of my way for other people like this, but I can recognize a broken heart when I see one.” The stranger turned you to face them, and you could see a pair of lightning-shaped horns, a pair of thick-rimmed hipster-y glasses, and a scarf wrapped tightly around their neck.

You gaped at his ability to have figured you out so easily. “Uh… yeah. I should, I need to go to… My friends are probably looking for me?” 

The stranger gave a small nod. “Okay… But are you really sure you’re alright? I’m not sure this is the best place for ya to be right now, given your state.”

If you were being honest with yourself, this entire situation seemed pretty shady. For the moment, though, you didn’t care, and you slumped forward, leaning some of your weight on the stranger and burying your face in the crook of your neck (which basically meant you got a mouthful of scarf). You shrugged.“Sure, I don’t, let’s go wherever.”

You felt a pair of slim arms wrap around you, and you couldn’t stop the new flow of tears that rushed from your eyes, undoubtedly staining this poor guy’s scarf. Through your sobs, you managed to choke out, “Sollux.”

“Is that your name?” The stranger asked. You nodded, and he replied, “mine’s Eridan.” 

“I’m sorry, Eridan,” you mumbled.

“For what?”

You shrugged. “For everything. I’m sorry you had to see me, I’m sorry I’m most definitely ruining your scarf, and I’m sorry you had to hear my terrible singing voice.”

You grimaced as you heard him chuckle softly, but you relaxed again when he said, “Don’t be. I have plenty of scarves, and I thought you sang wonderfully. C’mon, let’s get out of the cold.” He pulled away from you, keeping one arm over your shoulders, and began to lead you away from the overpass beneath which you’d been sulking. In the practically nonexistent sober part of your mind, sirens began to go off, screaming _no! This is the opposite of a good idea! This guy could kill you!_ , but you ignored them, countering with the thought that _he hasn’t yet, and besides, I wouldn’t really mind if I died right now._

He ended up taking you to his hive, and you ended up explaining everything to him, from your breakup with Feferi to the personal meaning behind the song that had lead him to finding you. He’d been extremely kind to you, and when you woke up on his couch the next morning with a throbbing headache and multiple voicemails from your friends (who had apparently finally realized that you had disappeared. Too little too late, in your opinion), he’d been there for you with a bottle of medicine (he’d even gotten you one that was still sealed, just so you could know it wasn’t drugged) and open arms.

You’d left, and only a few days later, you’d seen him again. This time, it was at the small computer store where you worked. The two of you had made idle conversation, and you decided to use your lunch break to spend time with him.

Two days and two dates later, you found yourself on his couch again, watching a movie and cuddled up to him beneath a small pile of blankets. 

You didn’t want to move, as the credits began to roll, but you also didn’t quite want to stay, wrapped up in Eridan’s arms on his couch, and you asked him, “Why did you help me?”

You knew he knew what you were talking about, and you could feel it when he shrugged. “Why not? I felt like bein’ nice to someone for once. You’re the first person who’s ever been nice back.”

“I don’t know, though… This seems awfully rushed to me.”

“It doesn’t have to be anything, if you don’t want it to.” He sounded unsure, and you could understand why. You were, too.

“I think I do want it to be, but maybe not yet? We only just met, after all.” You did like him, you knew you felt pale for him, but… you didn’t know him, and you could almost swear that beneath all the paleness there was a bit of a bright, flushed red. “I just… I kind of feel like I fit here, with you, but I’m not sure. I’ve never really _belonged_ anywhere, you know?”

“I get it. I kinda feel the same, about it being so soon an’ all. But… I think, if we gave it time, you could belong here.” The uncertainty in his voice was still evident, but this time is seemed stronger. He wanted to make sure he had your approval.

“Yeah,” you decided. “I think I could belong here too.”


End file.
